Derry City boss calls FAI Disciplinary process ‘a sham’

A FURIOUS Peter Hutton claims the FAI’s disciplinary process is a ‘complete sham’ and says it’s time Derry City take a stand against the current system which is ‘getting out of hand’.

The Derry City manager insists the Brandywell club has ‘had enough’ after a series of decisions from match officials have gone against his team in recent weeks.

And he also revealed Derry City are seeking clarification on the role of fourth officials following the controversial dismissals of skipper Ryan McBride and Philip Lowry in matches this season.

City midfielder Lowry will serve a three match suspension for ‘violent conduct’ in the 1-0 defeat to Sligo Rovers on August 17th last despite a successful appeal by Derry City which involved video evidence of the incident.

Hutton admits he finds the disciplinary process ‘frustrating and ludicrous’ and has called on the FAI to review the current process.

“We’re not happy about it all,” he said. “It’s ludicrous. The whole disciplinary process is a sham. There was no malice in Lowry’s sending off against Sligo. And it wasn’t the referee who made the decision it was the fourth official. That’s the other issue we have with it. There has been games where the fourth official has seen we should have been given a penalty but hasn’t said anything to the referee. And when we questioned that they tell us that they can’t influence it.And yet we have had two fourth officials that have sent our players off this season; Ryan McBride down at Shamrock Rovers and Philip in Sligo. So something is not right.

“I’m not one for conspiracy theories but it all adds up and if we sit back and accept it then we’ll keep getting it. Enough is enough!”

Consistency

“All we want is consistency for all the clubs. We’ve had decisions going against us consistently all season. If we sit down and accept it we’re going to keep getting it.

“We want clarification on the Lowry suspension. We have an issue with the initial decision to deem it violent conduct which means it’s a minimum of three games ban.

“We were told our appeal was successful and that’s why he only got three games. The initial decision by the fourth official was wrong it wasn’t violent conduct and that’s been made clear by the video evidence which the FAI haven’t even looked at yet. So it’s a sham of a process when you can’t even appeal the initial decision.

“All we can appeal is the length of the ban. What we want to do is have a recourse where you can actually appeal the initial decision that it was deemed violent conduct.”